When most think of encryption, they think of computers using complex algorithms to hide data in ways that require a password or key. This is a very modern and simplistic view of a long and stories history behind encryption. Since the dawn of human communication we’ve had a need to be able to send messages without the risk of them being seen by the wrong people. Thus, encryption is as old as the written word in some cultures.

One of the least expensive forms of pay-per-click advertising on the internet is StumbleUpon. With prices as low as 5 cents per click, they are able to drive more traffic for the buck than sites like Google or Facebook. What’s more, ads have a chance of picking up “natural” stumbles that are free. In some cases, a good campaign with strong content can get more natural clicks than paid ones.

There will always be business listing errors online. People sometimes do not pay attention. Businesses move or shut down. Some businesses are asleep at the wheel and unscrupulous competitors sabotage their listings. It happens. It’s not surprising that around 20% of the listings on popular sites like CitySearch and Mapquest are inaccurate. What was surprising is that the most accurate data apparently comes from Foursquare.

This is the easiest part to of a consolidated social media brand messaging campaign, but it’s also one that is not well understood and rarely implemented properly. The standard practice is to have a message, send it out on Twitter and Facebook, and move on to the next piece of news. It’s a futile effort.

There are many ways to slice and dice the data that people and businesses collect from social media. It is not the black hole that many believe it to be and ROI-savvy people who are willing to dive deeper into the numbers can be rewarded with the data they want… and then some.